The Congress, however, also welcomed the judgment. (Representational)
The BJP lauded the Supreme Court's verdict upholding the EWS quota on Monday, saying it is a victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his "mission" to provide social justice to the country's poor.
The ruling party also slammed Congress spokesperson and its SC-ST department head Udit Raj for his allegation following the verdict that the top court is "casteist", saying it has exposed the opposition party's "anti-poor" mindset.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said it was contempt of the court which, he added, should initiate proceedings against Udit Raj.
The Congress, however, also welcomed the judgment. In an official statement, it claimed that the EWS reservation was the outcome of the process initiated by the Manmohan Singh-led UPA government in 2005-06 with the appointment of the Sinho Commission that submitted its report in July 2010.
Parliament passed the constitutional amendment bill, brought by the BJP government, in 2019.
BJP general secretary (organisation) B L Santhosh praised the court order and tweeted: "Supreme Court upholds the legality of EWS reservation for unreserved sections. Another big credit for PM Narendra Modi's vision of Gareeb Kalyan. A big boost in the direction of social justice."
Supreme Court upholds the legality of EWS reservation for unreserved sections . Another big credit for PM Sri @narendramodi ‘s vision of Gareeb Kalyan . A big boost in the direction of social justice .
— B L Santhosh (@blsanthosh) November 7, 2022
Echoing the view, another BJP general secretary C T Ravi said the verdict is yet another victory for Modi in his mission to provide social justice to the country's poor.
Reacting to the judgment, Udit Raj had tweeted that there is no doubt that the Supreme Court is casteist. When it came to enhancing the quota for the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs), the top court cited the 50 per cent bar but took a U-turn in the matter of reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), he alleged.
Gaurav Bhatia dubbed Mr Raj's remarks as scurrilous and asked Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to clarify whether this is the stand of his party too.
While one can criticise and challenge the court order, but to say that the court is casteist and it took a U-turn shows that the Congress continues with its mindset of attacking institutions, Mr Bhatia said, adding that Mr Raj had earlier targeted President Droupadi Murmu, the first tribal to occupy the position, as well.
The Supreme Court, by a majority 3:2 view, upheld the validity of the 103rd Constitution amendment providing a 10-per cent reservation to those belonging to the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in education and government jobs.
The top court said the law on the EWS quota does not violate the basic structure of the Constitution.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
